Sourcing posters and printed matter from China

Zero duty

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 25 September 2026, commercial catalogues, other trade advertising material, printed pictures, designs and photographs, and other printed matter of heading 4911 carried 0% duty on goods from China, with no anti-dumping measure. For the reverse trade route, see our guide to exporting UK printed pictures to China.

Books and brochures bound as books are in heading 4901, and book printing has its own guide; postcards and greeting cards are in 4909, calendars in 4910 and paper labels in 4821. Confirm the commodity code.

Import VAT is not the same for every item

Import VAT is charged at the rate that would apply to a sale of the same goods in the UK. HMRC VAT Notice 701/10 lists catalogues, trade catalogues, mail order catalogues, brochures and leaflets as zero-rated, and posters, calendars and postcards as standard-rated. A mixed shipment of catalogues and posters therefore needs each line declared at its own VAT rate, and the zero rating depends on the item meeting the notice's tests, so check a borderline item before you order it.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: 20,000 printed posters under 4911 91 00 90, invoiced at £6,000 free on board, with £800 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £6,800. Duty at 0% is £0. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £6,800, so it is £1,360. With no duty, the only import tax is the VAT, which a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim. The import duty and VAT guide explains each step.

Inspection checklist

Colour and proof: a signed hard proof on the actual paper compared with the press sheets under standard viewing light, with the printer working to the ISO 12647-2 process targets where offered, and artwork checked in CMYK with bleed and resolution before plates are made.

Paper and finish: grammage measured to ISO 536 against the paper ordered, coating and gloss compared with the approved stock, light fastness of inks for window posters checked to ISO 12040 where it matters, folding and binding checked for cracking at the spine and grain direction, and any FSC claim matched to the printer's chain-of-custody code.

Moisture and packing: sheets checked for curl and cockling after conditioning, posters rolled in tubes of adequate wall thickness or packed flat with board, catalogues shrink-wrapped in counts that match the order, cartons sampled to ISO 2859-1, and the zero-rated and standard-rated lines listed separately on the invoice.

What goes wrong

Printed matter fails on colour, paper and moisture. Artwork supplied in RGB prints duller than the screen, and without a signed hard proof there is nothing to judge the bulk against. Paper can be swapped for a lighter weight or a different coating, and paper shipped by sea absorbs moisture so posters curl and catalogue pages cockle. Rolled posters crease in thin tubes, and catalogue covers crack at the spine when the grain runs the wrong way.

Supply print-ready CMYK files with bleed, approve a hard proof or press sample on the actual stock, write paper weight and finish into the order, and at inspection check colour against the proof, the paper weight, trimming and folding, and moisture-proof packing. Printers in China will not print maps that show borders differently from the official Chinese version, so raise any map in the artwork early. For map sourcing, see our maps and globes guide.

Cambridge China Bridge sources posters, art prints, catalogues and flyers, with proofs, paper and packing agreed before the run. See how our sourcing service works.

Greeting cards and postcards have their own heading, 4909, and musical cards bring battery rules; see our greeting cards and postcards guide.

Related guides: Sourcing hand-painted art from China, Sourcing maps and globes from China.